Polio Plus - National Immunization Day in India

What an Amazing Day! When I first visited India almost 25 years ago the Polio Plus Campaign, spearheaded by Rotary International, was in its infancy. It was that very year, 1988, that the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate polio from the world. Rotary International partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and other groups to make it happen.

Polio is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects children under the age of five and can cause paralysis within hours. Many of us have family and friends who have been affected by the disease.
I was invited to participate in a rally for the National Immunization Day in India. School children, teachers and Rotarians from as far away as Japan and Australia joined their Indian counterparts in the event.

I attended with both still and TV camera in tow as I was able to collaborate with one of my BCIT colleagues, Julie Nolin, who is teaching this term at the World Media Academy in Delhi. One of her top students, Kamal Pariyar (a journalism student from Nepal) came along to document the event as a real world news example.

I was blown away by the energy (and smiles) of all participants. Kids were blowing whistles and chanting 'one, two three, polio free'! While steel drums were being thumped by very enthusiastic stick wielding drummers!

The highlight came when I was given the opportunity to immunize a few children with the polio vaccine. I was literally shaking (and to be perfectly honest I almost unable to muster the strength) as I squeezed out the two drops of liquid happiness that would ensure the kids grew up polio free. I was genuinely affected (in a very positive way)!

For those of you who are not familiar with Rotarians and Rotary International, Rotary International is a voluntary organization comprising 1.2 million members in about 30,000 clubs in over 200 countries. Rotarians are men and women committed to improving the lives of others – service above self – through humanitarian service & programs like Polio Plus. 

To date Rotary has raised and contributed over 1 billion (yes BILLION) dollars to the eradication of polio on the planet with 143 million coming from Indian Rotarians alone.

And it has worked! In a country that historically had thousands of cases of polio each year India has not had a wild polio virus case in over a year. So far this year, there are only 40 cases of polio worldwide!  The countries where polio cases are still being reported are Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. As the posters say "we are this close" to eradicating the disease forever.

Margaret Mead once wrote, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has’.

To me the Polio Plus Program is one of the best examples out there of how committed citizens can make a huge positive influence in the world.

As I watched the Rotarians and their partners prepare for the monumental effort of the 2012 National Immunization Day the famous words of Mahatma Gandhi came to mind. ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. Rotarians around the world are doing just that.

On April 15, 2012 approximately 169 million children were immunized against polio in India.